A SIMPLE EXERCISE TO FIGHT HEART DISEASE

· TO QUIT SMOKING

· TO SMILE MORE OFTEN

· TO GET ENOUGH SLEEP

· TO GIVE UP FRIED FOODS

· TO GO EASY ON THE SWEETS

· TO TAKE A 30-MINUTE WALK EVERY MORNING

· TO CHECK MY CHOLESTROL REGULARLY

· TO KEEP MY COOL WHILE DRIVING

· TO EXERCISE REGULARLY

· TO PLAY MORE OFTEN WITH MY DOG

· NOT TO BRING WORK HOME

· TO HOLIDAY EVERY YEAR WITH MY FAMILY

· TO CHECK MY BLOOD PRESSURE REGULARLY

· TO KEEP MYWEIGHT UNDER CONTROL

· TO USE THE JOGGING TRACK IN THE COMPLEX

· TO MEDIATE FOR 20 MINUTES EVERY DAY

· TO KEEP MY DIABETES UNDER CONTROL

· TO EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

· TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE OF BETTER HEART-HEALTH

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Qualities of Courageous HR Executives by Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. and Gary M. Stern

This excerpt from "The Trouble with HR: An Insider's Guide to Finding and Keeping the Best People" offers eight attributes that HR leaders should have.

So what exactly do I mean by a courageous HR executive? What are some of the qualities and attributes that need to be demonstrated to show courage from an HR leader?

1. Act as a leader.

Most HR executives follow. They follow trends, other HR people who've always done it a particular way, and other business leaders who tell them what to do. Trends are good as a data point, but not to be followed. Other HR leaders may be doing it right and probably aren't, so following them doesn't generally make sense. And if you are simply taking orders from other business leaders (e.g., the CFO, CMO), you are not the HR expert - they are. Let me be clear here: If your HR leader is following, your organization is not getting the best HR advice and counsel.

2. Create a culture that works.

Every company creates its own corporate culture. Southwest Airlines differs from American Airlines. Microsoft is distinctive from Yahoo and Google. IBM and Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) have different cultures. The courageous HR leader takes ownership in culture - working closely with the CEO - and plays a major role building a climate that can make the difference between winning and falling behind the curve.

The HR executive at Apple, for example, contributed to creating a culture where people could innovate, take risks, and be rewarded. The HR executive at Research In Motion (RIM) hired designers who invented the BlackBerry and created a technological culture all its own. The HR leaders at Goldman Sachs have always hired not just bean counters but financial innovators. Part of the success of those companies stems from HR executives who had an eye for talent and a strategy to snare people.

3. Consider future goals.

Most HR executives just try to get through the day unscathed. If the CEO hasn't attacked them and senior managers belittled them, it's been a decent day. But the courageous HR executive isn't just focused on today; this HR leader considers long-term goals, connects with future strategies, and builds revenue for the future, not just the next quarterly earnings report.

The courageous HR leader knows HR decisions today could well impact the organization for years to come. As such, many HR initiatives have long-term payoff and should be openly described to the senior management team. It takes a lot of courage to ask people to spend $10 today and not get a return for five years, but HR leaders do this in business every day.

4. Possess the courage of your convictions.

Many HR executives second-guess themselves. Unsure of their own beliefs, they wait for signals or orders from the CEO and senior management team. Courageous HR executives have a strategy and game plan in place of how to lead human resources, what kind of people they want to hire, and how to gain their organization' s competitive edge through hiring. And, like Nike put it best, courageous HR leaders "Just do it!"

5. Adapt to a changing business environment.

Some HR executives are stuck in the past. This is the way it was done yesterday, and we'll continue to do it this way. That kind of intransigence won't work in a changing business environment. HR executives who act courageously consider new strategies based on global conditions, new competitors, introducing new product, and rising or declining market share. The best leaders I know have accepted two truisms. First, there's no such thing as staying in the same spot in business; you're either advancing or falling behind. And second, it's sheer lunacy to continue doing the same thing and expect different results. The business world is changing so quickly that HR executives who do not fully embrace change will fail themselves and the organizations they serve.

6. Hold HR staff accountable.

Despite popular belief, courageous HR executives don't always act as Mr. Nice Guy or Ms. Friendly. The HR function is mission-critical and therefore requires the absolute best HR staff to pull off the work. Gone are the days when the guy who failed in finance or the woman who didn't quite cut it in marketing could find a home in HR.

Courageous HR leaders go to the best colleges and universities to recruit their stars, and they recruit seasoned professionals from the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For in America. In short, even the most well-prepared and well-intentioned HR executive can't lead a team of subpar HR professionals to success. Holding people accountable is part of the job.

7. Operate with minimal fears.

Old-style HR executives were riddled with fears. Anxious about losing their job, uncertain about their role in the organization, and often viewed as outsiders, these HR managers operated from a defensive posture. But courageous HR executives lead with a clear direction, set strategy, work with others, believe in their own skills, and can face disagreement. Fear is not the motivating force, but doing what's best for the organization and creating a strong strategy to deal with change are.

8. Balance two needs simultaneously.

One of the toughest parts of the HR job is to balance expectations from the senior management team that you will do what is best for the company and the equally strongly held belief of the employees that HR is supposed to watch out for their interests and serve as their advocate. Having personally been in this position often, I can assure you it's no easy task to master.

But I believe what the effective HR leader does is put the employees first and still manages to balance the company's interests. If, for example, it becomes necessary for the business to lay off employees, the HR executive must manage the process in as thoughtful and humane a way as possible, always understanding that people (the people who were there for the organization in good times) must be taken care of as much as reasonably and fiscally possible.

[Excerpt from The Trouble with HR: An Insider's Guide to Finding and Keeping the Best People by Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. and Gary M. Stern.]

::::::::::::::::::

MIND CONTROL

YOU MAY CONTROL A MAD ELEPHANT;

YOU MAY SHUT THE MOUTH OF THE BEAR AND THE TIGER;

RIDE THE LION AND PLAY WITH THE COBRA;

BY ALCHEMY YOU MAY EARN YOUR LIVELIHOOD;

YOU MAY WANDER THROUGH THE UNIVERSE INCOGNITO;

MAKE VASSALS OF THE GODS; BE EVER YOUTHFUL;

YOU MAY WALK ON WATER AND LIVE IN FIRE;

BUT CONTROL OF THE MIND IS BETTER AND MORE DIFFICULT.

E N J O Y

FRUITS OF ALL PIOUS ACTIONS,

FRUITS OF ALL EVIL ACTIONS

IN THIS LIFE ITSELF,

YOU HAVE TO FACE IT YOURSELF.

ACCEPT THIS KNOWLEDGE, BE AWARE,

ONE MAY DO ANYTHING, GO ANYWHERE,

LUST, ANGER, GREED AND ATTACHMENT DESTROY DEVOTION,

BEING UNDER CONTROL, THESE SENSES,

MISS NOT YOUR DESTINATIONS.

IN PLEASURE AND PAIN DO NOT FALTER,

KEEPING ALL THOUGHTS OF MINE AND THINE,

ALSO ESCHEWING DUALITY OF ALL KINDS,

SERVE ALL EQUALLY WELL,

ENJOY HEARTY JOYOUS SPELL.

LAUGH AND BE MERRY

LAUGH AND BE MERRY, REMEMBER BETTER THE WORLD WITH A SONG.

BETTER THE WORLD WITH A BLOW IN THE TEETH OF A WRONG.

LAUGH, FOR THE TIME IS BRIEF, A THREAD THE LENGTH OF A SPAN.

LAUGH AND BE PROUD TO BELONG TO THE OLD PROUD PAGEANT OF MAN,

LAUGH AND BE MERRY, REMEMBER, IN OLDEN TIME,

GOD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH FOR JOY

HE TOOK IN RHYME

MADE THEM AND FILLED THEM WITH THE STRONG RED WINE OF HIS MIRTH;

THE SPLENDID JOY OF THE STARS, THE JOY OF THE EARTH,

SO WE MUST LAUGH AND DRINK FROM THE DEEP BLUE CUP OF THE SKY,

JOIN THE JUBILIANT SONG OF THIS GREAT STARS SWEEPING BY,

LAUGH, AND BATTLE, AND THE WORK AND DRINK OF THE WINE OUTPAINED

IN THE DEAR GREEN EARTH, THE SIGN OF THE JOY OF THE LORD,

LAUGH, AND BE MERRY TOGETHER, LIKE BROTHERS AKIN.

GUESTING AWHILE IN THE ROOMS OF A BEAUTIFUL INN,

GLAD TILL THE DANCING STOPS, AND THE LILT OF THE MUSC ENDS

LAUGH TILL THE GAME IS PLAYED, AND BE YOU MERRY MY FRIENDS.

THE BUTTERFLY

A man regularly observed a butterfly cocoon lying next to his window. One fine day he finally saw a small opening emerging on the cocoon. He waited patiently to watch what happens next. After few minutes, he finds, a butterfly struggling to force its body out of that little gap;. For several hours, the butterfly gave great effort to come out but as it failed to do so, it stopped making any progress further. It seemed like the butterfly tried as much as it could and cannot go further.

So, the man decided to help it come out. He took a pair of scissors, and slowly snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon. The butterfly freed itself easily. It had a swollen body and shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly and waited to see the beautiful insect to flap and fly away. But that never happened and the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings

It was the mistake of the man. In his well intentioned sympathy and haste, he did not understand that the restricting cocoon and struggle made by the butterfly to get through the opening was actually God’s way of forcing a fluid out from the butterfly’s body into its wings, so that it could be ready for flight as soon as it comes out of the cocoon.

For us, it is exactly the same. Struggles are compulsory in life. If God allows us to lead a life without any obstacles, it would cripple us

Noone can avoid the difficulties and sufferings in life. Fight against them and move up the ladder to fetch the triumph.

“Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets”

All of us have to struggle a little to fly up high

THE DANCE OF LIFE

Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump and much less dance. Nevertheless, they go on to live for a long time. Friends, dance of life does not mean that one has to dance through life. It is just finding some rhythm in life. In nature, everything is rhythmic. Planets revolving round the Sun, seasonal changes, flow of rivers, waves of the ocean, blooming of flowers and in millions of other things we find that rhythm. Commanded by unseen divine order every other form of life seems to be following the laws of nature to live in total harmony and peace. But when it comes to man, unfortunately he has to be told to live in harmony, in peace and find his own rhythm. Why ? Is sit because man’s mind is filled with greed, hatred and jealousy ?

Yes, and also, today’s man tends to take things for granted. Influenced by various factors, he has developed unnatural habits of eating, sleeping and wrong thinking. Unless an immediate vision correction is initiated, man will not only destroy himself but destroy all forms of life on this planet. Our scriptures have described life as ‘SAMSARA SAGARA” and to keep oneself afloat in that ocean, one needs to find his own rhythmic dance and not just dance. In any case, Life forces everyone to dance irrespective of one’s likes, capacity or talent. The comedy is – the vicissitudes of daily life will make even a professional dancer to crawl.

As rightly said, there are a million things affecting a million people in million ways. Where does this dance of life figure ? Is sit possible to have a rhythm under all circumstances ? Is it just a physical phenomenan? Or are there other shades to it like mental, intellectual and spiritual ? True there are many shades to it. At physical level, an athlete can excel in sports only if he has found his inner rhythm. At mental level, a person can emote and connect prop;erly only if he has understood or found the inner rhythm. At intellectual level, only a learned person can take a correct decision at crucial moment if he has some connection with his inner self. The goal of every spiritual person is to merge with his inner self. This can never happen unless he has found his inner rhythm. There can also be few occxasions/or persons where/to whom the above divisions blurs and to fit them in anyone specific group becomes difficult. Nevertheless, everyone is striving in their own field of activity to achieve a semblance of inner rhythm.

A doctor can claim himself successful if he is able to cure many who have lost health and natural rhythm in their bodies. Some people spend their entire life time in collecting some old obscure items like coins, stones, stamps and many such things which absolutely has no practical value. Few renounce the world to pursue spiritual goals against all temptations. While some go into the wild and play with dangerous reptiles and mammals as if they are their cousins, there are many more bizarre activities people indulge in. What prompts people to risk their lives and engage themselves in variety of activities ? Obviously, they are not satisfied with whatever they have and whatever they are in support of this argument once a great revolutionary and a thinker opined that most of the human activities, unlike in animals, is more than just surviving or staying alive. It is aimed towards realization of his inner self. Superficially, a thief trying to seal something might appear to a layman as an act of aggression or violence. But in the ultimate sense, it is said that he too is actually moving towards realizing his self. When viewed with a larger perspective it is just a minor aberration on the vast canvas of life.

The problem arose when man, on his journey towards finding that inner rhythm, thought it lies outside of him. Thus the struggles to subjugate, plunder, loot people and the natural resources began. After exploring and exploiting regions under his control, he occupies neighboring lands belonging to others. And thus killings/wars began. When not able to win others byphysical force, he tries to win them over through religion and political ideologies. He totally forgot the reason for starting his journey. But somewhere along the way, some wise men showed up on the horizon and said,: “Look, that peace, beauty and harmony is within you and not outside you”. Few listened and found that inner rhythm while many just heard and preferred preaching . We all know it is very easy to preach than practice.

Let us all make a serious and sincere attempt in finding out own rhythm. First, we only need to understand the basics. It is said, the strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.. A lot of dancing can be avoided if one knows the means to control the tongue. So many books, saints and seers have impressed upon mankind to have control over this particular organ in our body to avoid all unnecessary steps which sends rhythm for a six in our dance of life. Similar is the case with other sense organs too. How to achieve it ?

Leading a simple healthy life, keeping good personal hygiene, reading proper books, keeping the company of the good, being tolerant, being humble, acknowledging the help of others, not indulging in the activity of stealing and gambling, not boasting, not hurting others are but a few starters listed on the menu card of the famous restaurant called – DANCE OF LIFE. After sincerely trying all these, the eligibility to start the inner journey comes. There lies a vast ocean of subtle nuances suiting individual likes and dislikes. To take a plunge into that deep ocean is like obtaining passport for radical and complete transformation of one’s self. Are we ready for it ? Honestly, No. Unless an immediate vision correction is initiated, man can never ever desire for that inner self and till then all his activities in trying to find his inner rhythm will go in vain. So, let us first have a desire for a higher life and give it a honest try. Only then all our activities will have beauty, meaning and purpose.

ENCOURAGING CREATIVITY

Creativity in business drives ideas and provides the platform for constant development and improvement to maximize overall performance

The idea of creativity should not be confined to the creative industries, such as advertising or part of a research and development team where the act of creativity is understood as a necessary function of the business, and is seen to have a direct effect on the company’s profitability.

Managers in other filed often believe that creativity is a working practice that is irrelevant to them with little direct effect on their bottom line, let alone their team performance. What those managers are thinking about is an individual creativity. Corporate creativity is not the same as individual creativity. The goal of creativity in the workplace is to make the act of creativity a normal part of everyday business life, that will reach across the company from product development to managerial development

The power of including creativity in the manager’s skill base should not be underestimated and, on the whole, many managers practice some form of creativity while resolving daily issues on a subconscious level. The key to creative management is to make this process more successful, to identify strengths and develop areas of weakness.

The creative manager needs to sustain an open and creative environment where all team members have a forum for discussion of ideas without reprisals. Moreover, the creative manager should possess the courage to reassess current working methods and question the unthinkable whilst remaining realistic about the idea’s development and implementation. One further point to bear in mind is that the creative managers must accept full responsibility for their decisions and be accountable for ongoing assessment during the development of a project.

The business world is changing at a speed unknown to previous generations and, with the advent of the World Wide Web, email, ecommerce and m-commerce, business is now global.

Whether the business you manager is a one man bank or an FT 100 company, global events can affect you directly or indirectly. For example a sudden plummet in exchange rates would exert an external influence over business that called for creative spontaneous strategies to counter adverse effects. However, creativity should also be proactively applied to the more controlled or routine tasks such as marketing plans and staff retention.

Every human being has an innate sense of creativity. Not to explore this conscious creativity within the workspace will cause problems in the longer run.

GOALS

For ten good reasons setting and diligently working towards goals can help you to take charge of your life

01. Goals give you something to work for – purpose and direction to your life

02. Goals give you the best reason in the world for not procrastinating

03. Goals help you to concentrate all your energies and resources in specific direction you have chosen

04. Goals help you to build enthusiasm

05. Goals help you to be specific with other people who would like to help you

06. Goals help you to save time for yourself, for the people

07. Goals help you to keep in perspective what really matters

08. Goals give you a standard against which to measure your effectiveness as a person

09. Goals provide a foundation for setting new goals – they help you to keep reaching out

10. Remember only you can place the demands on yourself, that are necessary to meet your goals

THE PENCIL THEORY OF LIFE

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked: “Are you writing a story about what we have done?. Is it a story about me?” His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson: “ I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I amusing. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up;.”

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It did not seem very special. It was just like any other pencil he has ever seen. The grandmother then said that though the pencil looks very simple, it is endowed with five qualities – which if you can manage to hang on will make you a person who is always at peace with the world

FIRST QUALITY: You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and he always guides us according to his will.

SECOND QUALITY: Now and then we have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he is much sharper. So you too must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because that will make you a better person

THIRD QUALITY: The pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing, it helps to keep us on the road to justice

FOURTH QUALITY: What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.

Finally the pencil’s FIFTH QUALITY: It always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark.

So try to be conscious of that in your every action

MENTAL BLOCK

There was a student, who reached school one day very late. By that time, the first period was over. On entering the classroom, he found a mathematical problem written on the blackboard. He quietly copied the problem in his notebook. He thought the problem was his homework. He sat up the whole night as he found it difficult to solve – he was not that good at mathematics. However, he worked and worked, till he hit upon the solution. He was very excited, and went to school the next day.

The mathemtics teacher arrived in the class and enquired about her homework problem. None of the students who attended the previous day’s class, did the homework. This boy was taken by surprise, since there were brilliant students in the class who could have easily solved thaqt problem. He alone got up, and showed his homework to the teacher. The teacher verified and patted him for doing it right.

Why, then, did others not attempt the problem ? The teacher revealed that, while giving the homework, she deliberately said that it was a very difficult problem, and noone would be able to solve it. Every student present in the class, believed that it was beyond his capacity to solve the problem, and hence did not even attempt to solve ?

As this boy was absent when it was given to the class, he did not have any mental block, hence he attempted and solved it. The teacher thus demonstrated to the students how mental blocks prevent us from attempting anything.

So, destroy your mental blocks, you can achieve anything. Remember: “Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible”.

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YOU AND GOD

People are often unreasonable,

Irrational, and self-centered;

Forgive them any way.

If you are kind, people may accuse

You of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some

Unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere

People may deceive you;

Be honest and sincere anyway;

What you spend years creating

Others could destroy overnight;

Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,

Some may be jealous,

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,

Will often be forgotten,

Do good anyway.

Give the best you have,

And it may never be enough;

Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis,

It is between you and God;

It was never between you and them anyway

-Mother Teresa.

COMPETITION

Competition is a natural phenomenon of human life. From the time we were little children, barely knee high to our parents, we have learnt to compete for what we want. Since then competition has embedded itself into the fabric of our day to day lives. From buying to selling to learning to dealing, the tentacles of competition have seeped into every aspect of human advancement. The moment we step out of the cozy confines of our house, we are spooled into the whirlpool of a “Competitive World” where it is no longer the survival of the fittest, but the survival of the smartest.

Humans are naturally inclined to better themselves and make progressive improvement in their lives. Without competition, the world would have been so different and mundane. There would not have been any sports, games, civilizations, business or the other advancements that we see around us today. Peter M Senge, through his path breaking book – The Fifth Discipline, brought out the importance of competition in the evolution of various civilizations. His finds revealed that the civilizations which were caught in the constant flux of competition, at times with nature (floods) or with epidemics (plague) or with other civilizations (invasions), evolved and thrived whereas the others were left far behind. He extrapolated this philosophy to the business world and coined the term – Learning Organisation, where the organization consistently learns from its employees and competitors and tries to improve in every aspect. Competition always brings out the best in us. Just imagine if Bjorn Borg, Gary Kasparov and Muhammed Ali never had competitiors like John McEnroe, Anatoly Karpov and George Foreman ? Without these very enterprising competitors these mere mortals would never have become the legends they are today.

The work place can be made into a breeding ground of healthy competitions where the employees compete with each other for the attainment of a common goal. Competitions should always be constructive and help us gravitate close towards individual/organizational excellence. A healthy competition yields something positive for the organization as well as the employees. The underlying tenet is that we should always use our co-workers success as motivation to improve our own performance.

“ The ability to learn faster than our competitors is the greatest competitive advantage”

Business success depends on the ability to compete with our rivals. Competition facilitates generation of new ideas and helps to deliver the best.

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CHANGE MANAGEMENT

A few years ago, British Rail had a real fall off in business. Looking for marketing answers, they went searching for a new advertising agency – one that could deliver an Ad campaign that would bring their customers back.

When the British Rail Executives went to the offices of a p;rominent London Ad agency to discuss their needs, they were met by a very rude receptionist who insisted that they wait.

Finally, an unkept p;erson led them to a conference room – a dirty, scruffy room cluttered with plates of stale food. The Executives were again left to wait. A few agency;eop;le drifted in and out of the room, basically ignoring the Executives who grew impatient by the minute. When the Executives tried to ask what was going on, the agency people brushed them off and went about their work.

Eventually, the Executives had enough. As they angrily started to get up, completely disgusted with the way thy had been treated, one of the agency people finally showed up.

“Gentlemen”, he said, “your treatment here at our Agency is not typical of how we treat our clients – in fact, we have gone out of our way to stage this meeting for you. We have behaved this way to point out to you what it is like tobe a customer of British Rail. Your real problem at British Rail is not your advertising, it is your people. We suggest you let us address your employee attitude problem before we attempt to change your advertising.”

The British Rail Executives were shocked – but the agency got the account. The agency had the remarkable conviction to p;oint out the problem because it knew exactly what needed to change.

As Yogi Berra once said:

“Before we build a better mousetrap;, we need to find out if there are any mice out there”

Talent Management in 10 Easy Steps

1

Redefine talent management

Start by considering Talent Management at the right level; take a bird’s eye view of the dynamics of today’s employer/employee world.

It isn’t any longer a planning activity, and nor is it a matter of developing and retaining talent. It is, rather, a matter of spotting talent and getting the talent in just in time, so you have the people with the skills to get the work done.

2

Find the common denominators

For staff planning, identify the common denominator skills across managerial jobs. Those are the skills most managers in your organisation will need, irrespective of changing specialism, such as coaching, managing virtual teams, and creating a climate for trust, open communication and honest conversations – and spotting talent.

Become expert at describing those abilities, so you can include the right descriptions in job postings. Gather information from specialists on the job about what knowledge, skills, capabilities and attitudes they project for the next year or two.

3

Share the responsibility

Make staff planning part of everyone’s job and rely on the local teams and business units to let you know when they need more – or to reduce – staff. This has worked very well in highly-efficient and profitable companies such as Nucor Steel^**.

Train every person with supervisory responsibility to report changes in skills/capabilities required in their areas. Develop a continuous up/down communication capability. HR should consult on an ongoing basis across the organisation.

4

Become nimble

The new paradigm requires a nimble, flexibile, well informed and responsive HR function, comfortable working without medium- or long-term plans and with only short-term succession plans. These are keys to maintaining some balance between surplus and shortfall.

5

Develop simulations

In the method of supply chain management, ask experts – managers and non-management specialists – at operating unit level to develop simulations. That is, they posit several sets of assumptions about what drives the demand for talent and the build/buy costs. Ask the experts to assess the simulations.

6

Rely on the operating units

Leave decisions about which simulations to pursue with the operating units. Given that they are working to shorter time scales, they will be best placed to know when needs change and the organisation needs new people on the job.

The operating units may find this less of a change than Human Resources. Business has become more and more decentralised, with operating units accustomed to profit and loss responsibility. This responsibility engages employees and even contractors in a close look at the unit’s requirements and provides a sense of ownership that can help you retain talent.

7

Rely on judgment plus intuition

Getting what you really need in the mix - what kind and how many – necessarily involves subjective judgment, intuition and objective judgment based on experience. Keep the discussions local and wide open to ideas; diverge before converging, and foster creative approaches.

8

Weave talent management and business strategies

At the company level, make sure business strategy and talent management are iterative. Of necessity, both are now relatively short-term plans that inform one another.

9

Consider a new recruitment paradigm

Recruitment is more important than hiring practice in attracting the right group of applicants. The new paradigm suggests that you need to find and hire highly specialised people faster than before. If you have equipped the organisation with skilled people and process managers, hiring specialists who may not stay for the long haul is more straightforward.

This suggests that you start a campaign to market the organisation, and that you sell the job in each recruitment ad, just as you would sell to a customer. Be very clear: we’re looking for this, not that; here’s what’s good, here’s what’s hard. Be precise about the terms of engagement.

10

Make the culture change

For many, this talent management paradigm shift is a culture change, in that things are unsettled and uncertain. And there are key role changes that some prefer not to undertake yet must, in order to avoid confusion, anxiety, unease and unsound investment in outdated practices.

• Make short-term projections yet accept that you’ll probably be wrong, even though the cost of being wrong is that you have a surplus or a shortfall.
• Don’t expect people to be right any more; just good at estimating.
• Redefine HR’s role as understanding the ins and outs of specialist jobs, teaching operating managers and staff specialists to create and assess simulations, and writing precise marketing-wise job postings.
• Mesh strategic business planning with HR planning – all short-term - as a joint Human Capital activity.
• Train technical specialists to create simulations and interview skills.

Principles for Success

This is the story of Robby.


He was a young boy who lived with his elderly Mother. His mother wanted him to learn how to play the piano because she Longed to hear her son play for her. She sent her son to a piano teacher who Took Robby in under her guidance.


However, there was one small problem Because Robby was not musically inclined and therefore was very slow in Learning.


The teacher did not have much faith in the boy because of his Weakness. The mother was very enthusiastic and every week she would send Robby to the teacher .

One day Robby stopped attending the piano lessons. The teacher thought that He had given up and in fact she was quite pleased since she did not give Much hope to Robby. Not long after, the piano teacher was given the task to Organize a piano concert in town. She sent out circulars to invite the Students and public to attend the event.


Suddenly, she received a call from Robby who offered to take part in the concert. The teacher told Robby that He was not good enough and that he was no longer a student since he had Stopped coming for lessons.


Robby begged her to give him a chance and Promised that he would not let her down.


Finally, she gave in and she put him to play last, hoping that he will Change his mind at the last minute. When the big day came, the hall was Packed and the children gave their best performance. Finally ,


It was Robby's Turn to play and as his name was announced, he walked in. He was not in Proper attire and his hair was not properly groomed.


The teacher was really Nervous since Robby's performance could spoil the whole evening's brilliant Performance.


As Robby started playing the crowd became silent and was amazed At the skill of this little boy. In fact, he gave the best performance of The evening. At the end of his presentation the crowd and the piano teacher Gave him a standing ovation. The crowd asked Robby how he managed to play so Brilliantly.


With a microphone in front of him, he said, "I was not able to Attend the weekly piano lessons as there was no one to send me because my Mother was sick with cancer.


She just passed away this morning and I wanted Her to hear me play. You see, this is the first time she is able to hear me Play because when she was alive she was deaf and now I know she is listening To me. I have to play my best for her!"


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SUCCESS PRINCIPLES


This is indeed a touching story of love and excellence. When you have a Passion and a reason to do something, you will surely excel.


You may not be Talented or gifted but if you have a strong enough reason to do something, You will be able to tap into your inner God given potential.


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MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE


" Find the good. It's all around you. Find it, showcase it and you'll start Believing in it."

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Reply

Alphabet of Happiness

A--Accept

Accept others for who they are and for the choices they've made even if you have difficulty understanding their beliefs, motives, or actions.

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B--Break Away

Break away from everything that stands in the way of what you hope to accomplish with your life.

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C--Create

Create a family of friends whom you can share your hopes, dreams, sorrows, and happiness with.

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D--Decide

Decide that you'll be successful and happy come what may, and good things will find you. The roadblocks are only minor obstacles along the way.

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E--Explore

Explore and experiment. The world has much to offer, and you have much to give. And every time you try something new, you'll learn more about yourself.

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F--Forgive

Forgive and forget. Grudges only weigh you down and inspire unhappiness and grief. Soar above it, and remember that everyone makes mistakes.

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G--Grow

Leave the childhood monsters behind. They can no longer hurt you or stand in your way.

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H--Hope

Hope for the best and never forget that anything is possible as long as you remain dedicated to the task.

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I--Ignore

Ignore the negative voice inside your head. Focus instead on your goals and remember your accomplishments. Your past success is only a small inkling of what the future holds.

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J--Journey

Journey to new worlds, new possibilities, by remaining open-minded. Try to learn something new every day, and you'll grow.

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K--Know

Know that no matter how bad things seem, they'll always get better. The warmth of spring always follows the harshest winter.

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L--Love

Let love fill your heart instead of hate. When hate is in your heart, there's room for nothing else, but when love is in your heart, there's room for endless happiness.

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M--Manage

Manage your time and your expenses wisely, and you'll suffer less stress and worry. Then you'll be able to focus on the important things in life.

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N--Notice

Never ignore the poor, infirm, helpless, weak, or suffering. Offer your assistance when possible, and always your kindness and understanding.

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O--Open

Open your eyes and take in all the beauty around you. Even during the worst of times, there's still much to be thankful for.

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P--Play

Never forget to have fun along the way. Success means nothing without happiness.

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Q--Question

Ask many questions, because you're here to learn.

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R--Relax

Refuse to let worry and stress rule your life, and remember that things always have a way of working out in the end.

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S--Share

Share your talent, skills, knowledge, and time with others. Everything that you invest in others will return to you many times over.

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T--Try

Even when your dreams seem impossible to reach, try anyway. You'll be amazed by what you can accomplish.

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U--Use

Use your gifts to your best ability. Talent that's wasted has no value. Talent that's used will bring unexpected rewards.

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V--Value

Value the friends and family members who've supported and encouraged you, and be there for them as well.

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W--Work

Work hard every day to be the best person you can be, but never feel guilty if you fall short of your goals. Every sunrise offers a second chance.

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X--X-Ray

Look deep inside the hearts of those around you and you'll see the goodness and beauty within.

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Y--Yield

Yield to commitment. If you stay on track and remain dedicated, you'll find success at the end of the road.


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Z--Zoom

Zoom to a happy place when bad memories or sorrow rears its ugly head. Let nothing interfere with your goals. Instead, focus on your abilities, your dreams, and a brighter tomorrow.

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Four Tips for Effective Leadership by Agatha Gilmore

As companies continue to try to chart a course for 2010, there's no question that sound leadership will be one of the key ingredients for success.

"As economies change and accelerate, it becomes more and more important to be more effective in our leadership," said Kris Girrell, a senior partner with Camden Consulting Group.

However, leading in this new business environment requires a specific set of skills that may or may not be immediately apparent to today's executives. It's up to chief learning officers to provide effective leadership coaching. Girrell said there are four key behaviors that should be encouraged.

1. Live comfortably in the gray area.
"One of the key critical skills of senior leaders is the ability to deal with uncertainty, " Girrell said. "When you talk about top management, they're really looking out into the fog. It's all ambiguous, and it's literally almost making it up day by day, trying to figure out what changes in the economy and changes in the wind and changes in the pleasures of the customer base are going to be.

"I think the second part of the answer is that we've gotten very technologically good in business, in our society; kids have more horsepower at their fingertips than most people ever imagined 15, 20, 30 years ago," he continued. "We have all this technology that can take care of the details of things and get the information, but what's not embedded in the technology is the ability to think, to have critical thought and analyze and extrapolate from the data. It becomes even more important because the acceleration that's provided by all the technical tools really requires a lot more skill on the top end from our executives on how to use [it]."

2. Be counterintuitive.
"What's logical to the executive, or what's logical to any of us, as the next thing to do comes from how we already do stuff. So it's more of the same," Girrell explained. "Doing more of the same only gets you more of the same results. A good coach really thinks and asks questions that push you beyond your known level into the unknown, and that's kind of an iffy territory. That's where coaching starts. They're outside of the box of thinking."

3. Learn by doing - and trust others to do so, too.
"What an executive often [experiences] is, 'I don't have anybody I can delegate this to; nobody really has the skill set that is required.' Well, in actuality, so many upper-level skills can only be developed by being in the position that requires that upper-level skill," Girrell said. "We forget that what develops us is hardship. If you look back on the real formative events of your life, the things that made you [great], it wasn't sitting on the beach sipping a mai tai. It was being in the cauldron. It was really being under fire and having to deal with some high-pressure situations. You've got to be comfortable with uncomfortable - and pushing a person to that level of discomfort."

4. Exercise soft skills.
"Much of what we do is in the realm not of skills, [but] in the realm of personality or spirituality or ethics. The only way to develop ethics is in these terrible dilemmas where you have to make a ruling, and there isn't a right or a wrong to the answer. The really hard skills don't have a right and wrong way to do them."

Ultimately, honing these four skills will help executives develop into effective, passionate leaders. After all, as Girrell put it, "We're going through a particularly turbulent time, and it's just vitally important that we have some leaders with integrity and effectiveness at the helm."


[About the Author: Agatha Gilmore is a senior editor for Chief Learning Officer magazine.]

Lunch With God

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato chips and a six-pack of root beer and started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park, just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her some chips. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.




Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her a root beer. Again, she smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat

There all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.



As twilight approached, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave; but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman, and gave her a hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.



When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"



Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face and he asked, "Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?" She replied! "I ate potato chips in the park with God." However, before her son responded, she added, "You know, he's much younger than I expected."


Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of


Which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime! Embrace all equally!

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-JAI PRAKASH PANDEY
Director,
SBI-RSETI, Umaria